A student who has never learnt the Quran before nor knows the letters and is also willing to memorize. What is better?

Question
A student who has never learnt the Quran before nor knows the letters and is also willing to memorize. What is better? like should She /he know the rules, the letters (recognize them) and then memorize? Or start right away with the memorization.
Jazakallah

Answer
Asalaam alaikum. The student should memorize what is necessary for the prayers, then learn the letters, recognize them, and be able to join them together in words without lengthening vowels and without cutting short the medd letters. After this has been accomplished with the help of a qualified teacher, the student can memorize some of the shorter surahs by reading from the Qur'an and being corrected by a teacher; at the same time, the teacher should teach some of the basic the rules and make sure the student applies them in their reading.
The most important thing is that the letters are pronounced corrected and vowels are lenghtened their proper length with no excess or decrease in the vowel count, and the medd letters are pronounced with their proper vowel counts. If this is not yet accomplished, the student should practice reading with the teacher more, then start memorizing once the reading is smoother.
Wa iyyaaakum.
Wa assalam alaikum.